What happened after a series of collapsing episodes

On September 24, 2024, I received a serious text from Jax’s owner.

“Hi Jennifer, this is ____________. My boy Jax (fka Levee) from the Dock of the bay litter has had multiple “fainting or seizure” episodes in the last three days. I’m waiting to hear from my vet to get him in but with the recent passing of his sibling [Ryu, fka: Lock] I am quite concerned & wondered if you have any thoughts.”

When a message like that comes in, my heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach, and I feel queazy.

After some conversation over text about the exact nature of the symptoms and some possible directions she could go in, Jax’s owner was able to get an appointment to see her vet.

Ten hours later, I received the following:

“I took Jax to the vet. They did blood tests & an ekg, needed to be sent out for interpretation. Brought Jax home & about an hour later he laid down, went to sleep & didn’t wake up. Our hearts are shattered, what do I do now?”

When I read those words, all brain function in my head stopped.

Synapses literally ceased firing.  

I was at a complete loss for words.

All I could do was sit there in utter shock and disbelief.

I reread her text several times trying to make sense of everything.

I had to reply, but what does one say in response to that?

I wrote and rewrote my words hoping to properly convey through text how unbelievably shocked and upset I was by this sudden devastating news.

We hadn’t even been able to review any of the testing results yet.

We didn’t get a chance to find out what was happening so we could help him.

For goodness’ sake,

HE WASN’T EVEN TWO YEARS OLD YET!

As it turned out, Jax was normal in every way except one.

His blood work was normal.

He had no cough.

His heart rate in the vet’s office was 90 bpm.

His lungs were clear.

But Jax showed severely long irregular heartbeat intervals on the EKG.

The next day, Jax’s test results came in.

The veterinarian revealed that Jax’s marker for heart disease was likely.

The normal range is 0-900 pmol/L and Jax was at 1800 pmol/L.

According to Nationwide Specialist Laboratories:

• A normal, healthy dog has an NT-pro-BNP level of less than 900 pmol/L, which means that heart disease is unlikely. 
• If a dog's NT-pro-BNP level is between 900 and 1800 pmol/L, heart disease is unlikely, unless there are other clinical signs or a murmur. 
• If a dog's NT-pro-BNP level is greater than 1800 pmol/L, heart disease is likely and further investigation is needed.

From what I understand, Jax’s collapsing episodes began a week prior and occurred only when he was excited and running.

As his owner recalled,

“It is interesting considering it happened so fast from the first signs. Right up until he laid down the last time he was active and happy, no signs of pain or holding back.”

Then, she sent a video of Jax a week before his death of him running so gracefully full out in a large grassy field.

What a magnificent giant beast he was.

His owner said it best…

“He was perfect and will be missed by all of us.”

Indeed.

But for a Dire Wolf Project breeder, that’s not the end of the story.

In fact, it’s just the beginning for me.

Now comes the hard work of trying to figure out what happened.

Where did this come from?

Was it just a fluke of nature?

Some hidden recessive?

Something external?

Or perhaps it’s related to something else we’ve found in our breed previously but presented differently?

Research.

That’s what I must do.

And unfortunately, because everything happened so suddenly, we don’t have much to go by.

Jax’s vet sent the following helpful information:

“To Whom it May Concern,

     After a series of collapsing episodes;   Jax  was presented for examination.   Auscultation,  heart rate, and respiration were nomal.    Jax was his happy go lucky self. 

      With a presumptive diagnosis of syncope;    an EKG was performed.  The tracing showed 3 to 5 abnormally shaped QRS complexes per minute.  These could be premature ventricular contractions, which have many causes: eg. if he survived parvovirus as a pup/ congenital disorder/ pacemaker problem....  ‘PVC's’ occur when the pacemaker sends an abnormal message.  I am not trained in cardiology, but essentially it can cause the heart to beat left to right instead of right to left, causing chaos.  PVC's can cause death at any time.

      Our next step was a prescription to help bridge the gap, while awaiting cardiology referral.  Jax's tragic death nullified this effort.  We are all still reeling from this awful event.  He eas a wonderful dog in every way.

Yours truly”

As you know, we DNA test every puppy born into the Dire Wolf Project.

Of all the 250+ genetic canine diseases, only one health issue, copper toxicosis, is seen in our DireWolf Dogs. (including American Alsatian dogs and American Dirus dogs)

And it’s only in one line of the breed… the most recent Lab/Shepherd crossbred.

If you’ve been an exclusive Dire Wolf Project Inner Circle member for at least a few months, I wrote about it extensively at the time it was found, so I won’t go into it further here.  

But inherited heart issues, like Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), are not present in our dogs.

In fact, the only reported heart issues in the breed have been a series of faint innocent heart murmurs that are no longer detectable after 4 months old and one puppy that died of an enlarged heart fourteen years ago.

Therefore, just like Jax’s veterinarian, my first response was to look at a possible external cause.

When the owner’s vet sent her final thoughts, I wanted to know her thoughts on one particular possible explanation:

===

“Thank you so much for writing to us about this tragic event. I can hardly believe all that's happened, and so quickly, too. We, also, are greatly affected by Jax's sudden passing. 

“Great question about parvo. Although we have experienced parvovirus in previous litters, Jax was not in a litter that went through it. I am completely baffled by these symptoms, to tell you the truth. Earlier this year, one 3-year-old female American Dirus developed Myotonia Congenita, fainting when she gets excited. This is what my mind immediately ran to when I initially heard Jax fell over stiff in mid-play. 

“We have had several heart murmurs pop up in the breed, but they have mostly been innocent heart murmurs that are no longer detected after around 3 to 4 months old. 

“I am wondering, though, were you able to rule out heartworm disease? I just wish we had had more time to understand it. 

“We do track all reported health issues in the breed, so any health information we can gather about Jax's condition would greatly benefit our work. 

“Perhaps you would be interested to browse our breed-wide health database where we list all reported health issues throughout the breed since its inception in 1988. 

https://direwolfproject.com/direwolf-dogs/our-health-foundation/health-database/

“Thank you so much for your kind care of Jax. Our hearts are shattered for [the owner] and her family. We are so grateful for your willingness to continue searching for some explanation regarding Jax's sudden death. Of course, we will do all we can on our end, so if you need anything further, please feel free to reach out.

“Much love to you and your staff.”

===

Jax’s veterinarian graciously responded:

“Dear  Jennifer,

     We can rule out heartworm, as we do not have heartworm mosquitos here. 

 Do you treat or test before sending out puppies?   We can rule out parvovirus myocarditis since infection was not in his litter. 

In the absence of disease; we can safely assume Jax had a congenital pacemaker or heart disorder.  As a fellow breeder,

I am just wondering what you can offer [the owner].”

It is so nice to know that Jax had such a caring veterinarian.

I don’t know many who would take the time to ask relevant health questions from a breeder after the dog has already passed.

I am grateful for this veterinarian’s devotion to her medical assistance.

So, I replied in kind, because as a Dire Wolf Project breeder, I know that open and honest communication about the health issues that arise in the breed is the only way to make sure our dogs remain healthy and long-lived.

Here was my reply to Jax’s veterinarian.

===

“Hello Dr  - 

“Thank you so much for your thorough response. Eastern Washington state does not have the heartworm carrying species of mosquito, either. Plus, our weather pattern doesn’t allow for proper incubation of the mosquito larva. I think we can safely rule out heartworm at this point.  

“Yes. The Dire Wolf Project grants each American Dirus dog a lifetime genetic health guarantee that covers the entire genetic health of [the owner]’s dog for its entire life. Since we can rule out any external causes, we will have to conclude that whatever was going on with Jax was inherited. 

“At this point, we will place Jax’s health information onto our breed-wide health database and invoke the guarantee. 

“I am always sad whenever we must go this route, but as you know being a fellow breeder, life is precious and fragile. As much as we try to prevent all of the sorrow of losing a great dog too early in life, more often than not we simply can’t predict health issues from cropping up when we least expect it. This is the first case of a serious heart issue in our dogs like this, especially this young. As such we have much work to do to learn all we can about any genetic links that could have come together to cause this sudden and severe decline. 

“Again, I am so grateful for all of the information that you have been able to provide about Jax’s condition. We will publicly post this news for others to be aware of. We have a thriving owner health reporting culture, so I am sure they will let us know if anything like this is seen in any other dogs as we move forward from here. 

“May you be blessed in your work. I know what you do is not easy and can take an emotional toll over time. Take care of yourself. Good, honest, and caring veterinarians are not always easy to find. We need more willing to share their findings openly, both veterinarians and breeders, so that we can know the true nature of inherited canine diseases. It is only by opening up the secret world of canine genetic health, that so many people suffer from in silence, that we can make real and lasting change in longevity and quality of life for our furry friends.”

===

And so, I share this information here with all of you about Jax’s sudden passing because breaking the silence of the many canine genetic health conditions is paramount if dog breeders hope to create better health for our pets.

Too many owners cry alone when their pet becomes sick or dies.

This failure to report the difficult health situations that can arise means the breeder doesn’t have all the facts about the genetic health in the lines.

Too many veterinarians do not report the canine health issues they experience unless it is the mandated reporting of a contagious disease.

Fewer still actually take the time to speak with the breeder to find further answers.

This lack of information from an extremely valuable resource causing anyone interested in breed wide genetic health issues to rely on generalized owner or veterinarian surveys.

Not always the most accurate.

Although it is at least something.

And too many breeders and breed clubs outright lie and/or hide health issues, whether they are experienced personally or reported.

There is little incentive to do otherwise.

But from the beginning of the breed in 1988, Dire Wolf Project founder, Lois Schwarz, never cared about the gossip or breed-bashing that inevitably occurs whenever a new health issue is experienced in the breed.

Now, her brave integrity to openly share ALL reported health issues found in the breed no matter the consequences has been passed down to me.

This is just one of the major reasons why the Dire Wolf Project is different from any other dog breed on the planet.

There are so many other reasons why the Dire Wolf Project stands above any other dog breed out there.

The sheer genius behind the breed is how the science of dog breeding is fused together with:

1. the art of de-evolving the outward appearance toward the extinct, prehistoric dire wolf,
2. while at the same time further evolving the temperament of the domesticated dog to fit within our busy modern human lives.

You can read all about the Dire Wolf Project’s incredible, but necessary, changes to dog breeding in the book I wrote called:

Dire Wolf Project: Creating an Extraordinary Dog Breed

Here’s the link to get your copy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950333019

P.S. Here's a snapshot of what's inside:

• The uncensored story of how Lois Schwarz made dog breeding history by creating an entirely new category of dog that came to be called the strongbred dog.
• Many real stories of the hero dogs that have graced our lives through the years and helped shape a new breed of dog.
• Why the Dire Wolf Project refuses to participate in AKC, UKC, ARBA, etc
• Why the "wait-to-breed" model of dog breeding relies on a false sense of security and causes more health problems for breeding females.
• Why regular and systematic crossbreeding with other dog breeds is essential for longterm breed-wide sustainability.
• Why inbreeding on superior dogs within the project is a must and without it a breed cannot hope to maintain a consistent type.
• Why the Dire Wolf Project has chosen to breed for an exact replication of an extinct species of canid.
• Why we sell dogs for profit.
• How the Dire Wolf Project can claim to produce healthy dogs despite NOT formally health testing every single dog within the project.

Oh… the fun you’ll have challenging your mind on what you thought dog breeding was supposed to be all about.

A whole new world opens up when you read this book.

You cannot unlearn the knowledge you gain.

It’s a must-read if you are even remotely curious about the Dire Wolf Project’s work.

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.